US AND ALLIES CONTINUE TO UNDERMINE GLOBAL AGREEMENT TO BAN TOXIC CHEMICALS

11 September 1999

Geneva -- Today over one hundred countries will conclude the third round of negotiations of a global treaty that would eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from the planet. Despite the attempts by the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea, the international community showed strong support to make the world free of persistent poisons.

"This POPs treaty is meaningless without the goal of elimination. By opting for control and management policies for persistent chemicals instead of their elimination, these five countries are promoting the increase and continued proliferation of dioxins in the planet," said Juan Lopez de Uralde of Greenpeace International.

Greenpeace considers the outcome of the meeting to be positive given that the vast majority of countries supported a commitment for the elimination of super toxic chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, and dioxins. The next meeting of the negotiating parties will happen in Bonn, Germany in March 2000 and could be the last chance to secure a global commitment for the elimination of these long-lasting global pollutants.

"The US and its allies should invest their efforts and resources into phasing out their own toxic pollution sources and funding clean alternatives instead of polluting these negotiations," added Uralde.

POPs persist in the environment, travel long distances far from the source, bioaccumulate and move up in the food chain, and contaminate the next generation through exposure to the foetus and through breast milk.

Greenpeace adds that the only effective way to stop these chemicals from entering the food chain is through prevention policies such as product substitution and clean industrial processes. Therefore, the commitment for elimination is the only insurance policy that our children will have a toxics free future.

For the next International Negotiating Committee (INC), Greenpeace hopes to see stronger financial and technical commitments from the world´s richest nations to ensure a fair, fast and effective change from a toxic to a clean earth.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Juantxo Lopez de Uralde +34 91 444 14 45